White House: Dick Durbin quote a 'misunderstanding'

The White House issued a statement Thursday saying “we regret the misunderstanding” about Sen. Dick Durbin’s account of a meeting between House Republicans and President Barack Obama.

“While the quote attributed to a Republican lawmaker in the House GOP meeting with the President is not accurate, there was a miscommunication when the White House read out that meeting to Senate Democrats, and we regret the misunderstanding,” a White House official said in an email.

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Carney: Durbin quote 'did not happen'

Deputy White House chief of staff Rob Nabors was the official who relayed the bungled story to Durbin and other Senate Democratic leaders, according to a Capitol Hill source familiar with the situation.

The White House declined to further elaborate on the issue Thursday. Nabors did not respond to a request for comment.

The episode, which pit the White House against one of its staunchest allies and infuriated Republicans, could be called a game of telephone gone bad.

Durbin, the Senate majority whip, posted on his Facebook wall over the weekend that during a White House meeting, one GOP leader told Obama: “I cannot even stand to look at you.”

Durbin’s comments — leveled at a Republican lawmaker he refused to name during a meeting he didn’t attend — were called into question on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. House Republicans and the Obama administration refuted the account and the GOP sought an apology.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said on Wednesday that the remark was never given. “I looked into this and spoke with somebody who was in that meeting, and it did not happen,” he told reporters at the White House briefing.

After the briefing, the White House declined to elaborate other than to reiterate that the administration doesn’t believe anyone said this to the president.

But even in the face of GOP outrage and with no cover from the White House, Durbin didn’t back down.

“Durbin stands by his comments,” said Max Gleischman, a spokesman for the Illinois Democrat.

On Thursday, the White House sought to defuse the situation with the official’s statement, saying it was a misunderstanding.

More than a dozen House Republicans went to the White House on Oct. 10 to meet with Obama.

Durbin and fellow Senate Democrats also visited the White House on Oct. 10 in a separate meeting that occurred just hours before the House Republicans stopped by. Durbin visited with Obama again two days later along with the rest of the Democratic leadership team, including Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Chuck Schumer of New York and Patty Murray of Washington.

The gatherings took place during the heart of the 16-day government shutdown as Congress wrestled with a solution to reopening the government.

In total, 18 House Republicans attended the Oct. 10 meeting with the president: 12 members of GOP leadership including Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor as well as six key committee chairmen. Several attendees of the House GOP-Obama meeting denied the comments.

In the Facebook post, Durbin said the House Republican’s comments came during a “‘negotiation’ meeting with the president,’” and said that rhetoric flew directly in the face of Republican critiques of Obama’s lack of communication with the GOP.

“What are the chances of an honest conversation with someone who has just said something so disrespectful?” Durbin asked.

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner suggested that Durbin made up the exchange.

“Senator Durbin’s accusation is a serious one, and it appears to have been invented out of thin air. The senator should disclose who told him this account of events, retract his reckless allegation immediately, and apologize,” said Brendan Buck.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Sen. Durbin’s title. He is the majority whip.